Wooden Desk

Home Schooling

Home schooling has long been a part of the education system of many developed countries and developing countries but has got its legal status in recent times only. In North America the term Homeschooling is used whereas in UK and other European countries and in the commonwealth countries the term Home education is often used to relate to the activities of rendering education to the children within the house or sometimes in a community place where children from the same community gather to get education as opposed to the common environment and place like that of a public or private schools. Home schooling is also referred to the mode of education for the children who are taught at their home by private tutors and teacher rather than going to schools.

Home schooling or home education had a rich history. Earlier, the facility of learning outside of the classroom was only available to the children belonging to the elites or those belonging to the high social classes and home education was considered very prestigious. The royals around the world were often provided home-schooling rather than letting them go to private or public schools in order to restrain the friendship and cohabiting between the elites/royals and the common people. There’s has been a debate over the benefits and necessity of learning at home over public and private schooling in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as at that time some people thought school education to be mentally, academically and socially damaging for children. Home schooling can be loosely categorized into-Unit studies- where a group of children preferably from same community gather for learning and practice study lessons in an informal environment under the supervision of a teacher or a private tutor much different than the formal setting of a school. Another distinct feature of unit study is that instead of studying a specific subject like History, Science, Math or Geography, students studies a particular unit of a specific subject. All in one syllabus or curriculum is another type of methodology used in homeschooling. Learning at home is also said to facilitate autonomous learning skills among the children and students along with un-schooling and natural learning but this also have some of its own disadvantages like- becoming unsocial as the children study in their own safe and securely created environment unlike the public and private schools thus restricting coaxing with other children or students of same age groups.

Teaching at home has been legalized in various countries across Europe and America these days and these days some parents and communities chose to render home education to the children till a certain age.